WILSON 



6303 



WILSON 



only slight changes, might form a record for 

 his administration. The program and the per- 

 formance of a candidate for public office have 

 rarely corresponded so closely. In part, he 

 spoke as follows: 



I take the three great questions before us to be 

 reorganization and economy in administration, 

 the equalization of taxation and the control of 

 corporations. There are other very important 

 questions that confront us, as they confront all 

 the other states of the Union in this day of read- 

 justment : the question of the proper liability of 

 employers, for example ; the question of corrupt 

 practices in elections ; the question of conserva- 

 tion ; but the three I have named dominate all 

 the rest. It is imperative that we should not only 

 master them, but also act upon them, and act very 

 definitely. 



In these words he outlined his program; by 

 changing the tenses, he might, two years later, 

 have summarized his governorship. He was 

 elected by a plurality of more than 49,056, al- 

 though in the preceding election the Repub- 

 lican candidate had a plurality of 82,776. The 

 Republicans retained control of the state sen- 

 ate, but during most of his term cooperated 

 willingly with the Democrats on matters of gen- 

 eral public policy. The legislature passed the 

 governor's program practically as he wanted it, 

 though not without a struggle. As governor 

 Wilson used a weapon which few other gov- 

 ernors have used the direct appeal to the peo- 

 ple. The most notable example of this appeal 

 concerned the election of a United States Sena- 

 tor in 1911. The advisory primary vote of the 

 people favored James E. Martine, but the 

 Democratic machine politicians planned to 

 force through the legislature the election of 

 one of the party leaders. Governor Wilson ad- 

 vised the new candidate to withdraw, and when 

 latter refused, made an open appeal to the 

 people. This appeal he followed by a tour on 

 ti. .stump on behalf of Martine, who was tri- 

 umphant when the legislature met. 



In other matters Governor Wilson estab- 

 lished new precedents. He gave the office 

 seekers a shock when he went outside the state 

 for a superintendent of schools. He was in fre- 

 quent consultation with members of the legis- 

 lature, and he never hesitated to use his influ- 

 ence in favor of reforms. He shocked many 

 more or less reputable corporations by securing 

 a revision of the state's trust laws, so that New 

 Jersey, instead of setting a bad example, has 

 become a model for other states in this regard. 



It was inevitable that a personality so strik- 

 ing as Woodrow Wilson's, which expressed it- 

 self in so many novel forms, should command 

 national attention. Almost before he began his 

 service as governor there were hints that he 

 would be an acceptable nominee for the Presi- 

 dency, and when the Democratic national con- 

 vention met at Baltimore in 1912 he wa.* 

 candidate favored by the progressive, "forward- 

 looking" Democrats. For the actual nomina- 

 tion Wilson owed a great debt to William Jen- 

 nings Bryan, who fought against heavy odds, 

 but fought a good fight to a successful finish 

 (see BRYAN, WILLIAM JENNINGS). But the 

 popular demand which Bryan represented was 

 spontaneous, and was the work of no one man 

 or group of men. 



Because of the split in the Republican party 

 (see ROOSEVELT, THEODORE; TAFT, WILLIAM 

 HOWARD) the election of Wilson was almost a 

 foregone conclusion. The Democratic campaign 

 was ably managed, but Wilson himself took 

 little active part. He refrained especially from 

 the distressing personalities which marked 

 quarrel among the Republicans. He received 

 435 electoral votes to 88 for Roosevelt and 8 

 for Taft. His electoral majority was the larg- 

 est ever received by a Presidential candidate. 

 The popular vote was much closer. The vote 

 was 6,286,214 for Wilson; 4,126,020 for Roose- 

 velt; 3,483,922 for Taft. Wilson, therefore, like 

 Lincoln, was a minority President. 



The Administrations of Woodrow Wilson 



Constructive Legislation. Promptly after his 

 inauguration the President summoned Congress 

 in special session for the purpose of revising 

 ih tariff. The President in person appeared 

 before Congress and delivered his message, thus 

 returning to the practice of Washington and 

 John Adams. The Democratic leaden, R 

 sentative Underwood of Alabama and Senator 

 Simmons of North Carolina, drafted a bill whirl, 

 was passed, after a sharp struggle, on October 



3, 1913. The duties aa A whole were reduced 

 to a level of about 20%. Certain features of 

 the bill, particularly the schedules on wool and 

 cotton goods and sugar, met strong opposition, 

 but were forced through both houses with ih. 

 aid of strong pressure from the President. Also 

 noteworthy was the addition of an income tax, 

 designed to replace the revenue lost by remov- 

 ing the duty on sugar. The income tax was 

 made possible by the adoption of the Sixteenth 



